Oh Lovely Kakadu - 21st to 24th of July

Ok…I need to look upon a thesaurus as there is only so many times I can use the word amazing and awesome to describe a place.  But honestly there were no words to describe the beauty of this place!!

  We reluctantly left Steve's and found ourselves at Cooinda..... Not the Kakadu we wanted to see.  We could have been anywhere staying here - you definitely wouldn't think you were in the middle of a World Heritage National Park.  But when you're given weeties, make Honey joys....or something like that.  So we decided to check out the Yellow Water cruise and the incredible rock art at Noulangie.  That was a wise call...I got to see my first Jabiru that stayed still long enough for me to get a pic!

And the kids got to see pppllleeennttty of Salt water crocs....sometimes too close for comfort for me.

 Finally a good pic of the flitty flighty Rainbow Bee Eater.  These little beauties are sooooo fast.  They catch their food mid flight!  Gorgeous little buggers.

I am in awe at the majestic stature of this bird.  Sea Eagles seem to just have a certain presence about them…..they demand a certain respect.

The mystical Jabiru...which incidentally isn't the name of this large bird...it's actually the name of a South African bird. The Jabiru was mistakenly dubbed this and it has stuck.  The real (common) name for this bird is the Black Necked Stork....Jabiru sounds better I think.

 Little Jacanas or ‘Jesus birds’ as they are commonly called up here.  Very cute too.

Back at camp, just playing some tunes on the didj.

Noulangie Rock Art - Anbangbang Shelter....wow and wow.  Some of the art there is relatively new...only one thousand to two thousand years old - that is NEW!  There has been carbon dating in this shelter recognising the inhabitation of Indigenous Australians going back 20,000 years! Holy moly...hard to even comprehend!!!

I really like this fella in the right here.  He is Narmarrgon the Lightening man.  He makes the thunder with the rock horns on his head and throws shards of lightening that he carries with him.  When he originally walked across the country his children ran away from him and hid in the rocks.  Now when he makes his way back he calls for them and his children, now grasshoppers (striking red and blue) come out to meet him.  It's a story of seasons and a threat to kids to come in during a storm!

Nourlangie.....a picture doesn't do it justice

This little man hung out with us at our camp site....didn't have much to say though.